AMS Event#270-2017 – The event has been caught on camera by Rob Swanson from Huntersville, NC

25 reports from SC, NC, VA, TN, KY and MD

The AMS has received 25 reports so far about of a fireball event over seen over North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday, January 25th 2017 around 04:15 EST (09:15 UT.). The fireball was seen primarily from North and South Carolina but witnesses from Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland also reported the event.

Below is a video of the event published on Youtube Rob Swanson from Huntersville, NC

Estimated Trajectory

The map below shows the witnesses location with the first estimated trajectory. The preliminary estimated trajectory plotted from the witness reports shows the meteor was traveling from the Northeast to the Southwest and ended its flight south of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Vincent Perlerin

Vincent Perlerin, PhD is a software developer, web designer and community manager. He is working on the American Meteor Society under the supervision of Mike Hankey. He is the lead developer of the project.

6 comments

Audra1 year ago

I saw this on my way home from work around 4 am. My husband told me not to repeat what I saw that some would think me crazy! Magnificent Bright green ball with a tail

It looks like NASA’s all sky fireball network captured this event as well. The calculated trajectories align quite well surprisingly. Hopefully this validates the approach of using eye witness reports to estimate the trajectory of a meteor. Here is the link to their Report of the fireball and the orbit of the meteor prior to the collision.

I saw a bright flaming light at 12:30 AM January 1, 2017. It was very bright and low in the sky. More like a meteor. It was very fast and just over horizon. Looked like it was on fire. I live in Union County South Carolina.

Meteor Showers

Next major shower peak:

The Lyrids are a medium strength shower that usually produces good rates for three nights centered on the maximum. These meteors also usually lack persistent trains but can produce fireballs. These meteors are best seen from the northern hemisphere where the radiant is high in the sky at dawn. Activity…

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The American Meteor Society, Ltd. is a non-profit scientific organization founded in 1911 and established to inform, encourage, and support the research activities of both amateur and professional astronomers who are interested in the fascinating field of Meteor Astronomy. Our affiliates observe, monitor, collect data on, study, and report on meteors, meteor showers, fireballs, and related meteoric phenomena. Please note that the AMS does not deal in meteorites.

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